Crossed
by MessyJess
Summary: Well, here is my follow-up to "The Line". Thank you to all the conscientious readers out there, your comments made me smile and receive quizzical looks from my husband. I hope this lives up to your expectations. There's more to come, I promise.
1. Crossed

CROSSED

How long had they been kissing? Hours? Days? His whole life had to dissolved into two times, times when he was kissing Bones and every other time ever. His hands were roaming. Her butt, her back, her neck, her hair, and back to her butt. Her butt was his favorite. Good lord, this woman was made to be touched. He pulled his lips off of hers. Her eyes blinked back at him, there was no question in them, except maybe why the hell he stopped kissing her. His hands slipped from her butt to the hem of her shirt and he tugged it up and over her head. Oh holy hell, she was wearing a black lace bra. What he thought was an impossibly hard erection was now impossibly hard and twitching in his impossibly uncomfortable pants.

"Jesus, Bones. Are you trying to kill me?" He couldn't look away from her breasts. They were propped up by some magical force concealed by black lace. He could see the vague outline of her pale pink nipples through the lace. He started to feel dizzy. _Breathe Booth, just breathe. They're breasts. You've seen them hundreds of times. Yeah, but not _these_ breasts. These breasts on this woman._

"I don't want to kill you Booth, I just want your hands on me." His fingers twitched in response to her words, and of their own accord practically leapt at her breasts. He cupped them in his hands and his thumbs ran over her nipples. Then they tucked into the edge of the lace cups and pulled it down so he could see everything in its complete and perfect reality, and she moaned "Seeley," and he looked at her face. Her eyes half-lidded and her hands gripping his shirt like she might keel over backward if she didn't hold onto him. He kept touching her, and then, because he couldn't resist, he dropped his head and began to tease her with his mouth.

"Oh yes. Oh God, Seeley." He smiled as he laved her breasts with is tongue. He loved his name when it came from her mouth, hell, he would have loved an word from her mouth when she said it in that throaty, lustful tone. She started to arch her back and his hands moved around her body to support her and hold her to his mouth. He managed to maneuver them around so that she was halfway lying on the table. He kissed from her breasts down her stomach to the button at the top of her pants. He pulled his head back and his hands slipped out from under her to unfasten them. She arched herself and helped him shimmy her pants and her underwear down her legs. He threw the unwanted clothes into some unseen part of the room.

He stared at her some more. She was laid back on the table with an askew bra trying its damnedest to conceal her delicate areas that now shined from his ministrations. Her tiptoes were the only thing still connected to the floor. He grabbed her thighs and pushed her further onto the table so that she was completely disconnected from earth, the blue tablecloth bunched around her head and underneath her thighs. That's when she sat up and started fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. His hands met hers and together they worked to shuck off his shirt, he kicked of his shoes and ripped off his socks while she unbuttoned and unzipped his pants and eased his drawers down his thighs.

She was looking at him. Well, specifically she was looking at his dick. He let her stare for some seconds before he felt the blush creep up his neck and he cleared his throat. She looked up at him, the smile on her face and her tussled hair making her look like some kind of depraved angel, and he felt his breath go. "Booth, this is going to be fantastic," she said as her hand reached out to touch the very tip of him, and he couldn't say anything at all. His eyes fluttered closed and he involuntarily leaned into her touch. She wrapped her thin fingers around him and gripped him and a groan was ripped from his lungs. He looked down between their bodies and saw her ivory skin wrapped around him and he almost lost it.

He slowly pulled her hand away, "Bones, we're gonna have to do the intense foreplay some other time. I really need to be inside you." She grinned at him again, and a voice inside him whispered – _this is it_ – and then she was leaning back on the table. He climbed up onto the table, praying that it would support them both. His thighs were between her legs and he was looking into her eyes, "You're right, this is going to be fantastic."

That first moment, it was always the best. When he slowly stroked into her slick heat and felt every muscle and every inch of her surrounding him. It was made infinitely more intense because she was staring him right in the eyes the whole time. They were both fighting the urge to shut their eyes and focus solely on their own bliss. They were tangled up in each other, literally. He leaned down and kissed her as his body began to rock in and out and his tongue mimicked his actions in her mouth.

They both moaned at the sensations. He could feel his blood pumping faster through his veins. With every stroke he hit that spot inside of her and her muscles would clamp down on him for a perfect second and she would suck in air and let it back out with a sigh. Her hands rolled over his arms, shoulders, back, and then grabbed onto his ass. Her hips arched up to meet his and he looked down at her. Good God she was beautiful. She bit her lip then released it to open her mouth and sigh or groan. He could tell she was close, and then her eyes snapped open and focused on him. His face fell back to her and he devoured her mouth and then he was devouring her moan as he felt every muscle inside her close in on him, then the voice inside his head screamed – _THIS IS IT_ – and then he felt everything in him shatter and tingle.

They were both panting and Booth rested his forehead on the table next to her cheek. Slowly, he eased out of her. She exhaled at the loss and he inhaled at the sudden change in temperature and the sudden awareness of how sore his fucking knees were. "Maybe next time we'll make it to the bedroom, huh Bones? I'm afraid I'm too old and beat up to be knocking boots on tabletops anymore."

"Knocking boots? That's jargon, right? That's a euphemism for sex?" He shook his head, smilng in spite of himself and nodded at her, "Yes, Brainiac, that's a euphemism." He arched his back and heard the faint pops that he would pay for later. She sat up on her elbows, adjusting her lace back over her breasts and looked at him, "You know, you're only five years older than me, maybe you should try yoga or something. I feel perfectly fine, and I was the one being pounded into solid oak."

His eyes went to her face and saw her lazy smile and smiled back at her because it just felt so good to be near her and experiencing afterglow with Temperance Brennan. She slid to the edge of the table and her toes reached for the floor. Then she bounced up in front of him and he looked down as she did so he could see what effect all that maneuvering had on her magical bra. They were still in perfect place, the powers of black lace unaffected by his tugging and licking. He thought about making a crack about pounding her in lots of different places, but it seemed uncouth, so he said, "Well, how about advanced warning before we have unorthodox sex, and I'll just stretch beforehand or something." She was still grinning at him, and he realized that he was grinning at her. Two naked, grinning idiots, what could be better?

"Don't you think a warning might take the spontaneity out of it? Maybe you should just stretch every day. Besides, I'm not sure that our definitions of 'unorthodox sex' would fall under the same heading." She began to walk around him and he grabbed her from behind and whispered in her ear, "Ok Dr. Bones, how about I take you in the bedroom and we have some of my orthodox sex, and then you can show me later what you consider unorthodox sex. I'm always willing to learn, and I'm feeling pretty stretched out right now." She turned in his arms and twined her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. When they came up for air she grinned at him again, and said "But if you're already stretched out, why don't you follow me into the kitchen?" Then she untangled herself from his arms and strutted into the kitchen, throwing a glance at him over her shoulder.

This was going to be an interesting evening.


	2. Maybe

This was the moment that he had dreaded

This was the moment that he had dreaded. The moment that had held him back for all this time. This moment after all the lovemaking and recuperative sleep was over and there was nothing but harsh daylight left to really highlight how stupid this idea was. She had sounded totally logical last night when the great majority of his thinking had been done within the confines of his pants, but now, this morning, there was nothing left but a sense of panic.

He knew exactly what he wanted, but he knew enough about the woman lying next to him that what he wanted and what she wanted were very likely to be two distinctly different things. Her skin felt good against his, her back turned away from him and her butt pressed up against his thigh and a few stray locks of hair tickling his right arm. This was great, and this was what he wanted to wake up to and take to dinner and make love to on a regular basis. He wanted to do all of those things and not wake up in the miserable uncertainty that was pressing like a thick fog on what should be a beautiful day.

He decided to wait until she woke up to address all of these throbbing questions. Maybe if he woke her up and made love to her really quickly he could trick her into not thinking about what they had done and where this all was going. If he could distract her with sex then she couldn't kick him out. Orgasms made people grateful, right? If he gave her like fifty at once then maybe she would just fall totally in love with him and ask him to marry her.

Oh God, marriage. He was Catholic. How was he going to explain an atheistic doctor with no popular culture knowledge to his even more Catholic mother? How would he even convince Bones to go meet his mother? He wasn't even sure he could convince her to let him hold her hand, much less meet his family. She was going to wake up any minute, and the only game plan he had was distracting her with sex. All in all, a good short-term plan, but temporary in its effectiveness. He felt her shift slightly under the sheet and stilled every muscle in his body. He needed at least five more minutes to mull this all over in his head.

No such luck, she was sighing, and oh God her stretching pushed even more of her skin against his. All that hot smoothness against his side made him shudder. He rolled to press the front of his body along the back of her, fully expecting her to pull away from him, but instead she sighed again and brought his left arm over her hip and dragged his hand up the slope of her stomach to her soft breast. Apparently he wasn't the only one considering sex an appropriate method of avoiding awkward conversation and nervous jitters.

She didn't seem nervous, though. Maybe she was telling the truth. Maybe she believed this could work out. Since she was the smartest person he knew, maybe he should just do what she says. And if what she says is to fondle her and make love to her in the sunlight streaming through the window, well, he wasn't going to argue. Oh God, she was shifting again, pressing her perfect ass into his hardening cock. He squeezed her breast with his left hand and slipped his right arm under her side between her neck and the bed and brought it up to her face, turning it to his for a kiss. She turned her whole body to lay on her back and he grudgingly moved his left hand from her breast to brace himself slightly above her on the bed.

He pulled back from the kiss looking for any sign of 'maybe' in her eyes. She was just smiling up at him, happy, and not at all grossed out by what he was sure was horrid morning breath. He swallowed and realized that he had been holding his breath and slowly let it out and smiled back down at her. She had smudged remnants of eyeliner and mascara under her right eye and her hair had a huge puffy rat's nest on one side of her head. She had never looked better. He leaned back down to kiss her again, shifting his lower body to line up between her thighs. He kissed himself down her neck to her breast and gently nipped and licked there. She arched her back to press more insistently against his cock and moaned his name in the most fantastic way.

He lifted his head to see her watching him and he smiled at her. She hooked her hands under his arms and dragged him back up to her and kissed him, wrapping her legs around him and hooking her ankles around his ass. He could feel himself pressed along her slick heat. He reached down with a hand and aligned himself and slipped into her. She moaned into his mouth and thrust her tongue along his, mimicking the movements of their lower bodies. He began to slide in and out and she moved along with him, her feet now pressed into the bed on either side of his hips and her thighs pressing against his, holding him tight and helping thrust deeper.

She looked good underneath him, clinging to him, moaning his name. She looked like a depraved angel. Every now and then her eyes would flash open to look and him and then they would widen at his next stroke and flutter closed again. He felt her shudder and gasp his name and felt all her lovely insides grasping him and he fell into the certainty of this perfect moment. He let go and laid his head on her shoulder, staying inside her until her spasms stopped. He drew himself out of her and rolled them over so that she was splayed across his chest. She lifted her head and rested her chin on his chest and smiled lazily and sleepily at him.

"Wow, so that's orthodox sex in a bed?" He laughed at her reference to last night's not-so-orthodox sex on tabletops and against refrigerators. He realized dimly that his knees felt bruised and his calves were threatening to cramp. _Oh well, the price you pay for acting like a horny eighteen year old, Seeley_.

"Yes, orthodox, but fun. And no stretching required. Plus the benefit of being in a bed which is nice for napping afterward." She kissed his chest and sighed laying her head down just above his heart. He smiled to himself and closed his eyes, grateful for the easiness of being with her, and hoping that it would last. That maybe he hadn't needed to waste all that time panicking. He would make sure this worked. He would do anything and everything in his power to make this work. There were no maybes anymore.


	3. Moonlight and PB&J

**Check it out, my first Author's Note!! You guys have been totally wonderful in your reviews. It's really encouraging and making me want to write and write and write. Hopefully, I can get this puppy finished before I have to go back to teaching in August. Have you guys got any ideas of where you'd ultimately like this to end up? I thought I'd try to tie it in to a few season four spoilers I've read. Let me know what you think!**

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Monday morning had never seemed so full of possibilities. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Seeley Booth had a skeleton to show his partner. Excellent. He shouldn't be grateful for death, but it did give him an excuse to go to the Jeffersonian and not look like a complete boob. After their Saturday morning romp, they didn't talk about anything, but he knew they both had things to focus on other than this sudden shift. He'd had to go see Parker and take him on a promised zoo trip, and she had articles to read and books to write. Sunday was busy for him as well what with church and family time and Bones had her Angela time and working out and blah, blah, blah. The point being, he hadn't seen her for a significant period of time, and he was getting that slightly nauseous but curious feeling in his stomach.

He parked the car and hopped out, brandishing his security pass and giving a nod to the ever-vigilant doorman. His shoes let out the occasional squeak on the shiny tile floor as he made his way to the Medico-Legal Lab. Through the glass doors he could see Bones talking to Hodgins and both of them taking turns peering through the microscope. Just as he opened the doors she turned and headed to her office, but hadn't noticed him yet. _Good_, this would give them his first few moments with her alone, without any prying eyes squinting at him. He was really glad for the electric blue tie and green day-glo socks today, they had a calming effect on his frazzled nerves.

He pulled open her office door and she looked up from some paperwork on her desk.

"Hey Bones. We got a case. Apparently, it's pretty disgusting and in the middle-of-nowhere, West Virginia. Some farmboy found a corpse in his hay loft," he plopped onto her couch. "How was the rest of your weekend?" He had tried to be totally normal, and just slipped in the last comment so she wouldn't think he was being cold. Did he come off as too cold? Maybe he was too nonchalant, maybe he should have started with the niceties and finished with the corpse in the barn. Crap.

"The rest of my weekend was great Booth, thank you for asking," she was winding her way across the office to the couch as well. "How long will it take us to get to West Virginia? Are we staying overnight," she was looking at the folder she had plucked from his hand. Then she turned her face back up to him, "Did you have fun at the zoo?" The last question surprised him, as did her nearness. She wasn't being nervous or cold. She was acting totally normal. This was great. She was great. Life was great. Maybe later they could bicker, that would be even greater, and then when they went home and no one was around, maybe he could take off all her clothes and lick her in ungodly places; that would be the greatest.

"Zoo was great, Bones," he leaned across her to look at the folder in her hands, "You know what? I forgot to ask if this was an overnight or a commuter case. Let me call Cullen real quick." _Dear Lord, if you're listening, please let this be an overnight case. And let there be only one motel in this rinky dink town so I can atleast be in the same building as her_, "Agent Cullen, this is Booth, I was calling to confirm the status of the West Virginia case. Do we need to stay in town, or are we commuting this one? Uh-huh. Okay sir, thank you." Amen.

"We're staying overnight, Bones. Do you need anything from your apartment?" He already knew the answer. They were going back to her apartment. Where everything would now be normal, but he would look at her table and think _mine_, and then he would see her refrigerator and think _mine_, and then he would follow her into her bedroom and think _mine, mine, mine_.

"Yes, I'll need to get some things together here too. I've got to check out a satellite link-up and a more comprehensive field kit." As she said her list out loud she absentmindedly used her fingers to count out necessities, "Then I'll need to go home and get clothes and toiletries. Oh, and I need to call and get access to my traveling money and see about a hotel. Why don't you go ahead and go get your stuff ready at your apartment and pick me up in about an hour and a half at my apartment and we'll go. I don't want to leave my car in the garage here." She looked to him for plan approval, and he nodded his agreement, "OK, I'll see you in a little while."

"Alright Bones." He walked out of her office and jogged across the lab floor, nodding at Angela and Cam on his way out. Once he was back in his car he felt almost giddy with excitement. That had been perfect. There was nothing awkward, no confusion. He had wanted to prop her up on her desk and make out with her, but that was a normal urge he could squelch. This was going to work, and everything was going to go smoothly. He was kind of in shock. He expected a relationship with Temperance to be challenging, to say the least. He wasn't sure why he thought that now. She could compartmentalize with the best of them. She wasn't overly-emotional or needy. Why did he think this would be hard?

He knew that he was asking for trouble, but he couldn't help his happiness with this new direction. He was having his cake and eating it too. So now he could fight crime and get the girl. _How much better could it be?_

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Two hours later they were in the car, headed to West Virginia. For some reason, Bones had brought two huge army duffle bags that weighed a ton and could have fit golf bags inside them they were so big. He had never taken her for high maintenance. He teased her about it, but she just shook her head and didn't say anything, just gave him that half smile, so he let it drop, for the time being. They began talking about the smaller details of the case that Booth had been filled in on from the cop on the scene, "Apparently, we're heading to literally the middle of nowhere. The nearest town to this barn is thirty minutes away, called Hamlin, and it's got less than fifteen hundred residents. It should take us about six hours to get there. Did the Jeffersonian set you up a place to stay? Because by the looks of things, I'm either going to have to stay over an hour away or sleep in the car."

"Oh, they couldn't find anything within a reasonable distance for me either, so I packed all that camping gear. I brought an extra sleeping bag and everything, so you can camp with me if you want. I thought I might ask the farmer we have to talk to if we could use his facilities and running water." She looked at him with her eyebrows half-raised in expectation for his answer. All he could think about was the fact she was inviting him to share a small, enclosed space with her. If he had ever doubted God listening to his prayers he swore he never would again.

"Sounds good, Bones. I haven't been camping in a long time, this should be fun." He smiled at her for a few seconds and then turned his eyes back to the road. She nodded her agreement and looked back down at the case file. The rest of the drive was spent on cell phones, coordinating schedules and procedures. She had to figure out how to get things shipped to the Jeffersonian, he had to try to make nice with the local police force. Finally they arrived and their first stop was the clinic/vet's office/morgue to view the body. After the requisite questions of the town's doctor/vet/coroner they headed to the farm to look at the crime scene. By nine o'clock they had their basic work done and decided to call it a night.

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The farmer had agreed to let them use his spigot on the back side of the farmhouse and there was a bathroom on the bottom floor that they could use. He gave them crude directions to a spot on the back of the property that would be accessible by SUV and it was wooded alongside a creek. They headed out, and by ten thirty they were camping in style. She had even brought stuff to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It was dark, but they had four lanterns hanging from various branches. They didn't want to risk starting a fire, with the dry season they'd had it was likely the whole place would burn in five minutes.

They sat in their chairs and talked about the case, Angela and Hodgins' issues with marriage, and Parker's tee-ball team. Everything and nothing. It was nice, it was him and Bones, but better because he could think about her naked and have less guilt. Not totally void of guilt, but definitely less guilt.

She stood up and brushed her hands on her thighs, "Are you ready for bed?" He looked up at her, her head was framed by stars and the white light from the fluorescent lanterns made it look as though she was glowing from the inside. His breath caught for a minute and he couldn't for the life of him think when he had been more grateful to hear someone say those words.

"Yeah, I'm ready." His voice sounded funny in his own ears. He stood up and suddenly felt silly, like he felt when he picked up his date for his first high school dance. He could feel his palms dampen and his pulse kicked up. He fought every urge to shift his weight from one foot to the other. How was he more nervous this time than the last? This didn't make any sense. Maybe she was really talking about going to sleep. Maybe those moments of her were all he was ever going to have. Maybe…._enough with the damn maybes, Seeley._ She was looking at him with that perfect half-grin and he had to grin back.

"Well, come on then Booth. It's cold out here." She turned and headed toward the tent, turning off the lamps as she went, and he watched her for a moment, looking at her hips sway and wanting to touch her so badly it made him itch. Just as she got to the entrance she turned and looked back at him with a full smile that beamed in the moonlight, "Booth, when we're done rolling around and getting warm in there, I call dibs on this side." As she said it she pointed to the right side of the tent, but he didn't even care. There was going to be rolling around, and he had to stop himself from sprinting across the ground. He had to play at least a little bit cool. He walked over to her and tugged on the zipper of her puffy vest. She was still smiling at him and her hands fell to his hips. He looked into her eyes, they were shining at him, and because he couldn't help it and because he couldn't remember a time when he wanted something so badly, he kissed her.

It started gently. He knew that would last for a total of five seconds, but he thought he should be gentlemanly and at least try for the slow and gentle method. Not surprisingly, she intensified the kiss, her fingers hooking around his belt loops and pulling his hips into hers. He tugged the zipper of her vest all the way down and started to guide her backward through the entrance of the tent, awkwardly zipping up the flap behind him while still kissing her.

Once they were sealed inside, she dropped to her knees and he followed suit. He tugged her vest down her arms and threw it into the corner. His hands skimmed the hem of her turtleneck and the warm skin he felt underneath it made him shudder. His hands drifted up until he felt the bottom of her bra. He dimly felt her hands fumbling to push his jacket off his shoulders. He let go of her for a moment to slide it off his arms and then tugged his long sleeve t-shirt over his head and flung it on top of her vest in the corner. She had pulled off her shirt and was starting to reach around to unfasten her bra, but he caught he hands. He placed her arms on his shoulders and she twined them around his neck. He kissed her because he couldn't stop kissing her and his hands worked their way to the back of her bra. She released his neck to let the straps drift down her arms, and then they joined the growing pile of clothes in the corner.

He pulled back from her lips for a moment so he could see her bare breasts in the moonlight. Christ, he loved the great outdoors. She began to lie down and pulled his arm with her so he stretched out on top of her. He looked down at the snaps on her jeans and slipped down her body to take the obstructive pants off. She lifted her butt off the ground as he tugged them and her underwear down her legs, but they got caught on her bulky hiking boots. She laughed as he groaned and began to untie the massive laces. Finally, she was naked in front of him, and he took a moment to stare some more. This woman looked good naked. She had a body made to be nude. She was lean but soft in places, like her inner thighs. As he thought it, he reached out and ran a hand up the inside of her right leg. He looked up when she let out a gasp. He slipped his hand higher and he could feel the heat radiating out of her center. This woman was hot, and he suddenly realized how chilly the air around him was.

He sucked in a breath and lay back down next to her on his side, "Now, it's your turn Booth." She leaned up and pushed him onto his back and began to work on his shoelaces first, learning from his earlier mishap. After she tugged off his shoes she crept back up to the waist of his jeans, wrenching his pants ever so slowly up and around his very alert and excited cock and down his legs along with his underwear. She shivered a little as she looked at him and he hoped it was more due to him than the chilly temperature. She crawled over him her hands braced at his shoulders and her knees squeezing his hips. She leaned down and kissed him, her wet tongue sliding around his, tasting like peanuts and grapes and Bones, and he felt the temperature in the tent go up a few degrees. His hands moved to her ass and he shifted her damp heat over his straining member. She paused to look at him and for a moment he thought she was about to say something, but instead she slowly lowered herself onto him.

All thought stopped. He couldn't remember where they were, where they'd been, hell, he couldn't even remember his name. The only thought he could process was Temperance, so he said it aloud, like a chant, like a mantra that imbued pure pleasure. _Temperance, Temperance, Temperance_. His heart was pounding as she rocked forward and back, up and down, until he thought he'd go insane from the heat and the pressure. He forced his eyes open hoping to force himself into the reality of the moment and away from the sensations that were threatening to make him explode, but when he looked up it only got worse. Her head was tilted back, her long brown hair had fallen around her shoulders, and her mouth, that devil's candy, was slightly open in the midst of a guttural moan. She glowed in the light leaking in through the netted roof of the tent and then she turned her focus on him.

It was incredible, really. The force of will and intensity required to keep your eyes open while letting go. Like falling off a cliff, you think you should close your eyes to make the sensation less intense, but to leave them open, it's like seeing into another dimension. And she was right there with him. Her blues eyes were dark from lust and bliss and they were locked onto his. He knew exactly when she let go and her throbbing muscles pulled him into insanity right along with her. He let out a roar that he didn't recognize as his own voice and she mewed out her ecstasy as she collapsed onto his chest.

For several moments they laid like that. Her sprawled on his chest and him holding onto her back as though he might fall into forever if he let go. What was happening. There was nothing about this situation that should have made it so incredible. They were having sex on the ground for Christ's sakes. He was fairly certain that he was laying on top of a very uncomfortable pinecone, and her knees would probably have bruises on them tomorrow. All in all, it should have just been decent, but this was far from decent, and he'd lay even money that it had only lasted about four minutes. Which was completely embarrassing. God, he hoped she hadn't noticed. Although, she came just as hard and as fast as he had, so maybe it was just really inexplicably awesome sex.

He felt her begin to lift up to move off of him and he loosened his arms from around her. She pulled up enough to look him in the face, "Booth…wow. That was…wow." _Oh thank God, she didn't fake it._

"Yeah, Bones. That about sums it up. Still chilly?"

"I'd say not. Very effective method of heat generation."

"You tired?"

"Exhausted actually. I can't believe…wow."

"You keep saying that, Bones, and I'm gonna get cocky."

"Well, you've officially earned your belt buckle in my book." She laughed and rolled off of him onto one of the sleeping bags. He lifted up a little to locate the other and to get the hell off that damned pinecone. He sat all the way up to grab his underwear and slip them back on and wormed over her to get to the other sleeping bag on the far side of the tent. Once they were both settled into their burrito-like bedrolls he grabbed the edges of her bag and tugged her over snug up against him while she giggled.

"There we go, Bones. Right over here. Goodnight." He kissed her gently and then wiggled his arms back into the confines of his sleeping bag.

"Goodnight Booth. Sweet dreams."

"Sweet dreams, Bones."

He smiled himself to sleep.


	4. How An Empiricist Dates

It was suggested to me that I include a chapter in Crossed of Brennan's point of view

**It was suggested to me that I include a chapter in Crossed of Brennan's point of view. So, I thought I could just rewrite every chapter from her point of view, but then my dog barked at me and I realized I don't really have the **_**time**_** to rewrite each chapter from a different perspective. So here's the deal. I'll take a few of the chapters and make them Brennan-focus. How's that work for ya? Okey dokey, here we go….**

HOW AN EMPIRICIST DATES

It is hard to sleep in when you're camping. Well, at least it was for Brennan. Booth, however, was next to her in a perfect state of sleep, his face smashed into the mattress pad, one arm slung across her waist, and his sleeping bag bunched around his waist. The sun was just about to rise and there was pink light slipping into the tent from the mesh roof. The birds were chirping outside, and Brennan smiled to herself at how brilliant she was at maneuvering this new territory between herself and Booth. It might have sounded pompous to the outside observer, but she had put so much thought and effort into maintaining their perfect partnership, that she felt she had earned the self-congratulations.

She had expected him to be awkward. She knew when she initiated all of this that Booth regarded sex in a different manner than she did. It had taken her a while to work out those differences and control the situation so that no one would be hurt or embarrassed. She had all the confidence in the world that this would work out fine, but she knew it would take some serious tiptoeing to ease Booth into the new situation.

It was very much like an experiment. She would slowly add one variable to the mix at a time, meanwhile maintaining complete normalcy in all other aspects of their relationship. This was totally manageable; she just couldn't be stupid about it. The sex was phenomenal, so at least she didn't have to worry about working on basic semantics with a new partner. To be fair, she had expected the sex to be fantastic. Booth was athletic, confident, warm, and genuinely concerned for others. All of these traits followed him into the bedroom.

The morning after their first time had amused Brennan. She could tell he was nervous. She might be crap at reading suspects' emotions, but Seeley Booth was an open book to her. Probably because she had been spending the better part of the last few months trying to get a read on him. She knew he was probably physically attracted to her, many men were, but there was the matter of degree. If he were only aware of her physicality, but not really excited by it, then there would be no point in pursuing her infatuation with him. However, she had noticed that he constantly watched her. In addition, when they ate together at the diner he would lick his lips and lean toward her. The evidence of his sexual attraction to her had piled up and up and up until there was no doubt in her mind that she would not be unrequited in her admission of more-than-platonic feelings for him.

So far, he'd taken it all in stride, and she was glad for the lack of drama. Angela and Hodgins seemed very happy, and she was happy for them, but she wasn't going to be the woman having sex in a janitor's closet at work. She liked her personal and professional life separate. She was pleased with the calm coalescing of sex with Booth and work with Booth.

Now, of course, she realized that the main difference between herself and Booth, in regards to sex, would be popping up soon. He was an emotional man that believed in and respected the concept of love. She was…not an emotional woman, to say the least. She didn't believe herself to be unfeeling, but she was certainly not convinced of silly things like soul mates or destiny. She believed that she and Booth had a solid foundation of trust and compatibility that would keep them levelheaded throughout this transitional period. That was about as romantic as she could be.

She looked over at Booth's messy hair and his slightly agape mouth and smiled to herself. She was happy today. That was a rather new feeling. She really cared for this man, and to know that he cared for her was exhilarating. She reached out and gingerly touched his uncombed hair. Touching him was a new thrill for her. His skin was always so warm and she could feel the muscles flex underneath. He felt alive, strong, and full of energy. She ran her hands from his hair down his neck, over his shoulder, along his extended arm, and finally to the hand that was splayed on her sleeping bag.

His hands were wonderful. She had always loved men's hands. They had big wide palms and long thick fingers. His palm was darted with creases and she wished briefly that palm reading were an actual science that she could use. She wondered how long he would live, if his romantic wishes would come true, and if any of his lines matched up with the ones on her own palm. She ran her index finger along the outside of his hand and fingers like she were tracing them onto a piece of paper. He had a callous where his index finger met his palm and she wondered idly where it came from. She turned her head back toward him and saw that his eyes were now open and staring at her.

"Morning." She wondered how long he had been watching her.

"Mornin, Bones. How long have you been awake?" His voice was husky from sleep, but his eyes never looked away from hers.

"Not too long. The birds were chirping a bit loudly for my taste. Did you sleep well?" He nodded his head and suddenly shifted his body. He was leaning over her and she felt her body flush at the unexpected move. She had always been the one to initiate their lovemaking, so his sudden bravado was a welcome change. He swooped down and kissed her. His mouth was hot and sticky from sleep, but she didn't care, he still tasted like Booth.

She was suddenly quite aware of the fact that she was naked, but separated from him by two sleeping bags. She felt his legs rubbing along hers and then he kicked his sleeping bag off. He reached up and found the zipper of her bag and eased it down. When he got it past her neck he peeled away from her mouth to start kissing along the opening seam. Her neck, her shoulders, a lengthy and wet pause at her breasts, her stomach, her hips, and then stopped just at her thighs. He was hovering over the apex of her thighs, staring. She blushed at the sudden attention and had to fight herself not to bring up her hands to cover up. She felt silly and shy, suddenly. But then he looked up at her, his dark eyes burning into hers and he gave her that charm smile and she quickly felt her shyness transform into wanton. He licked his lips and she felt a shudder go through her at the promise in his eyes. He quickly unzipped the sleeping bag the rest of the way and brought his hands to spread her thighs. He brought his knees up to rest between her legs and leaned even closer to her warm center. With one finger he traced her folds and dipped briefly between them, but not inside. Her smooth legs shifted to rub against his, aching for any sensation to ease the emptiness now throbbing womb.

He blew softly on her and she gasped at the heat that spread fast and low in her. Her breath came faster when she realized where that mouth was going to go and never before had she wanted something or someone so badly. Then he slid his finger inside her and made her body jolt from the pure pleasure of it. "Tell me when it feels good," he whispered from between her legs, and she looked at him quizzically, until his finger shifted within her, and she said, "Oh my God." He laughed and said, "No, when it feels _really_ good" and moved his finger another way.

"Here?" he asked, and she shook her head, wanting to tell him that the clitoris was that nub he passed on his way inside her, but then he said, "Wait," and slipped another finger in. He moved deeper this time until he hit something delicious inside her and she said in a voice that sounded thick in her own ears, "Oh God, _there." _Then she felt his breath again and suddenly his lips were clamped over her clit. "Oh my, _God_!" She was lost then, in the tension and the heat of his mouth against her and his fingers driving her mad inside. She gave in to every feeling running through her veins and writhed mindlessly against his mouth, against his big body pressing her into the mattress pad. She cried out to the dawn at the first surge of her orgasm, shaking against his mouth, and he brought her back again and again while she did absolutely nothing but feel everything, and it was glorious.

When he finally stopped she let her brain slowly kick back on. She felt her body humming its pleasure. He had crept back up to lay pressed against her side, stroking her hair off her face and grinning down at her. She smiled back up at him, the fog of an incredible orgasm slowly lifting, "So, where have you been?" He laughed at her question and said, "Oh, you know, I had some work to do down South." He was slowly tracing her collarbone with his finger. "Well, you were gone forever. Give me a kiss."

As their mouths met, his slightly tangier than what she remembered from minutes before, his hand drifted down to cup her breast. _Booth is groping me. _Somehow his aggressive initiation this morning had made this situation seem more real. She felt like a woman being possessed by a man, and it was entirely new. Everything about him felt strong and she relished in his virility. She wanted to feel him everywhere and her hands stroked along his skin as she whispered into his lips, "Booth, I want you inside me." He groaned into her mouth and moved back between her legs. But instead of driving into her, he went slowly.

He stretched minutes into eternity with every deliberate move of his hips. She stayed right with him, her eyes locked into his and the pleasure she felt was bone-deep. She slid along his body and relished in his hot mouth until she was so consumed by heat she felt like she was glowing. Each stroke touched every inch of her insides. Their breathing came in slow rushes and billowed onto each other's faces and burst into each other's mouths. Finally, after eons, he whispered, "Now," and she broke into a million pieces underneath him.

They lay next to each other, shattered and smiling as the sun finally burst in full glory through the trees and onto their skin.


	5. Red

**I'm sorry it took me so long to get this uploaded. The beginning of August is a terribly busy time for us teachers so writing had taken a back burner. There will probably only be just a few more chapters to this story. But, I have some ideas for a new story brewing, so get ready! Thank you to everyone who has commented, your support has been so exciting! I'm greedy for your feedback. Keep it up!**

RED

It took four days to solve the corpse in the barn. An arrest was made and they headed back to DC to fill out ungodly amounts of paperwork and revert back to sleeping in beds rather than on the ground. Although, he had to admit, the ground had served them well. Four days and four nights of making love underneath millions of stars. Bones had been great about the whole thing, and he was starting to think that she had probably planned out this relationship adjustment. He smiled to himself wondering how he could have ever thought it was just blind luck that had brought them together that first night. If he knew Bones, and he did, in every sense, then he knew that she had maneuvered him into her bedroom that first night.

It was brilliant, really. But he had felt the tilt of power in his direction that first morning in the tent. She had been so soft under his hands and hadn't protested when he initiated and took control. Every night since then she had let him take the lead in their little dances. He found it surprising. She was so independent and prone to analysis. Of course, while he was spending months and years picturing bending her over that examination table, she was probably weighing pros and cons, planning, and coordinating. It was his job to keep up the emotional side of things, and her job to keep everything functional and running smoothly.

Their romantic relationship mirrored their partnership in a lot of ways. The only thing he regretted was the risk of being separated. They had agreed to keep everything private until they had poked around for answers in regards to FBI policy about romance and partners. They both knew their superiors would not rule in their favor once they found out they were sleeping together. Until it was necessary to admit to the relationship, they would keep it to themselves. That had been a nerve-wracking conversation to bring up. First, he wasn't sure if this was just another aspect of their partnership that Bones had just decided to implement, but didn't really mean anything. The minute she used the word 'relationship' he felt a sense of relief rush over him.

They pulled up to her apartment and she turned to look at him, "So, what's the plan, Booth? It's Friday night, no work until Monday." Her eyebrows wiggled up and down and she stuck her tongue out at him slightly. He couldn't help but smile at her. She was different when they were alone together now. She flirted with him and laughed more. She still asked him questions that she knew would piss him off, but the bickering usually led to sex, so he enjoyed playing into the fights more.

"Well, Bones, how about you run upstairs and grab some things and come spend the weekend with me? You can drive your own car in case you need to run errands without me, and that way we can drive separately to work on Monday morning without raising any suspicions. Sound good?"

She gave him the patented Brennan smirk and nodded as she opened her door, "You're the boss. I'll see you at your place in a few minutes." She already had one leg out the door when she paused and sat back in her seat, but left the door open. She looked at him with her eyebrows raised expectantly. He was confused.

"Something wrong, Bones?"

"You know, Booth, I think you're under the impression that I'm not a naturally affectionate woman." She leaned slightly towards him, "But there's good stuff here and you're missing it." As she spoke she pointed an index finger to her still smirking lips.

"I'm sorry, bones. Must have slipped my mind." He leaned into her. Their mouths pressed together for a second, just softly touching and sharing a breath of contentment. Then he tilted his head and deepened the kiss, nudging her lips with his tongue until they parted and he darted his tongue in to brush against hers. It was a light kiss: a kiss given without intention or plan, just for the pleasure of kissing. He couldn't remember the last time he had kissed a woman without it being part of a process toward sex. He relished in his newfound ability to simply touch her whenever he wanted to. It was a heady thought.

They broke apart and she winked at him, "Okay, that was good. I really will go this time. See you in a bit." She hopped out of the car and walked quickly into her building. He sat there and stared for a moment or two longer after she had vanished from view. He knew that Bones was a hell of a woman, but it was a constant surprise to see her in this new role. He wondered what other revelations were ahead for him. He put the Tahoe in gear and headed home, hoping he didn't have too much crap laying around his house to stuff in the closet before she got to his place.

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Seeley had just finished shoving random pairs of shoes, dirty undershirts, smelly socks, and other misplaced odds and ends into the catch-all hall closet when Bones knocked on his door. She had made it over here quickly. His kitchen looked terrible. There were coffee cups and abandoned takeout containers scattered all over the counter, and there were still a few empty beer bottles littering the top of his coffee table. Oh well, she was bound to discover his distaste for housekeeping eventually anyway. He trotted over to the door and swung it open.

She stood in front of him with a small duffle bag slung over her shoulder and her other hand hooked in the belt loop of her jeans. She looked self-assured and sexy as hell. As she walked past him into the house he snatched her duffle bag and tossed it onto the couch and tugged her into his arms. Before she could eke out a protest, his mouth was on hers. There was no soft beginning to this kiss. This was a kiss filled with intention. They were in his house, his domain, and he was heady with the idea of possessing her here.

She mumbled something against his mouth and he blurrily realized that her hands were not pulling him close and egging him on, but slowly stroking as though she were trying to get him to calm down. He pulled back from her lips and took a half step back from her, but kept his hands on her waist. Her lips were puffy and pink and her eyes were shining. She was smiling, which made him feel slightly better about attacking her, but he still felt embarrassed.

"Sorry about that Bones."

"That's fine, Booth. You know I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I was hoping to use your bathroom. If that's okay." _See Seeley, this is why pleasantries are exchanged, so you can make sure someone doesn't have to pee before you ravish them_. He lifted his hand and pointed a sheepish finger down the hall. She gave him a small kiss on the lips and grabbed her bag off the sofa before heading in the direction of his finger.

After he heard her close the door, he wandered into the kitchen to fix a glass of water. He raised his voice loud enough to be heard through the bathroom door, "Bones, do you want anything to drink?" she replied, "No thanks, I'm fine." He leaned a hip against the counter and sipped on his water while he waited for her to finish. His mind began to drift back over the last couple of weeks and everything that had happened. It was miraculous to him, still, that she was handling it all so well and how unexpected she was in this new area of their relationship.

He would have expected Bones to be somewhat distant in a romantic relationship, but she was the total opposite. She was warm, she liked pressing her body against his when they slept, she laughed and smiled all the time, and she was still completely honest with him. It still caught him off guard sometimes, the new freedoms he had with her. When they would have a private moment during the day and he felt like touching her he would have to remind himself that it was allowed, and his stomach would flip at the realization.

He tried to count all the times he had seen her lean over an examination table or cross her legs in Sweets' office and he had entertained less-than-moral thoughts. He'd even had the occasional jerk-off fantasy involving Bones and handcuffs, or the interrogation room table. An exhilarating thought that some of those fantasies were possible realities now. Probably not the interrogation room thing, though. There was a limit to how far he was willing to go for sex. He chuckled to himself and turned to rinse out his empty glass in the sink. He heard the bathroom door open behind him and the click of her shoes down the hall.

The click of her shoes? She hadn't been wearing heels when she walked in. Curiosity made him turn and look at the doorway over his shoulder. _Holy mother of God._ There she was. Nothing but legs and breasts in a red silk panty set complete with red garters, red sheer stockings, and the most fantastic matching red fuck-me heels he had ever seen. She looked like the world's best excuse to give in to the devil. He distantly heard the running water from the sink and blindly reached to turn off the faucet.

She was leaning against the doorframe with that half-cocked smile and one hand on her hip. He was suddenly more that half-cocked himself. _Holy mother of God._ For the first time in his adult life he was literally awe-struck. He could feel the cool air of the kitchen hit his gaping mouth and belatedly tried to snap his jaw shut. Should he be doing something? He was staring. Did that count as _doing_? Maybe he should be approaching or maybe clapping. _Holy mother of God._ He shook his head to try and force some thought into his brain other than, "gimme" and "holy mother of God." He was thirty-six god damn years old. He'd seen his fair share of naked women. But _this _woman. It must just be the shock of seeing _Bones_ like this. _Bones_, who didn't think society should place such a huge emphasis on physicality. He should probably do something other than stare. He dragged his gaze back up her satin covered parts to her face. She was still grinning. Patiently waiting for him.

"Bones…wow. I don't…I mean…you look…_holy mother of God_." He was slowly walking toward her. Stammering out what he hoped she would consider praise. He got within arm's length of her and stopped. There were very few thoughts going through his head that didn't involve sucking, squeezing, thrusting, or a combination of all three at once. Maybe he should just ask permission, "Umm, can I…" he lifted his hand up to touch her hip and feel the slide of the slick silk under his fingers.

"Booth," he looked up at the purr of her voice. It sounded like honey, sweet and sticky in his ears, and he suddenly wanted to lick her throat and see if her skin there tasted like sticky sweetness. "You can do whatever you want." Her pink tongue darted out to lick across her bottom lip. Something clicked inside him and the hand that was softly caressing her silky hip shifted down and around to roughly grab her ass while his other shot around to the nape of her neck. Her mouth dropped open in a gasp and he hungrily devoured her open mouth in a kiss as he pulled her flush against him.

He walked her backwards through the doorway and into the hall, still attached mouth-to-mouth. They hit the wall, and his hand slipped into the back of her panties, grabbing flesh and pulling her hips tightly to his. In her heels they almost the same height. Her hands were wrapped around his torso, her fingers digging into his lower back and occasionally sliding into the back of his pants to grab his ass and assist in thrusting their hips together. He groaned into her mouth and was vaguely aware of her hands leaving his behind and trying desperately to tug his shirt up. He leaned away from her briefly to rip the shirt off over his head and immediately dove back to her mouth then down her neck. He licked the top of her breasts as she leaned her head against the wall with a thump as he sucked a bruise on the top of first her left then right breast. No low-cut shirts for Dr. Brennan for the next few days. Oh well.

He brought his hand from her nape to slip down her neck and chest into the cup of her bra. He scooped out her breast and latched onto her nipple. He licked, nibbled, and sucked until it was a darker shade of red and standing proudly out against the pale flesh and she was moaning and panting. He raised his head to look at her face. Her eyes were closed and her teeth were worrying her lower lip. She was flushed and when it dawned on her that he had stopped sucking on her flesh she batted open her eyes and met his. The prettiest goddamn thing he'd seen. Her mouth released her lip and she grinned at him and bucked her hips towards his. He was jolted back to the throb between his own thighs and grabbed her hands from where they'd been roaming at the waistband of his pants.

He lifted her arms above her head and held them there, her slender wrists trapped in one of his hands, while his other hand dripped slowly down her body to where they were both pressed so tightly together, red panties to brown slacks. He quickly unbuttoned and unzipped his trousers, they fell freely to his ankles and he quickly kicked them to the side. He then reached into his boxer briefs and guided his cock out over the elastic waistband. His fingers then dove underneath the crotch of her panties and tugged them to one side. She was hot and slick with wanting him, the evidence of her arousal quickly coating his fingers.

"Anything I want, huh?" He teasingly dipped two of his fingers inside her, in and out in the briefest foreshadowing of what was ahead. He was the one in control now. All she could do was moan in response to his fingers and her growing need for him to fill her. "I want to fuck you hard against this wall. I want you to feel me in your bones. I want you to remember this moment, me filling you up, every time you move for the next week." He looked into her eyes as he said the words. Slightly startling himself with his own brazenness, but aware that it was the absolute truth. Her eyes were heavy lidded and she was taking sucking breaths, her hips involuntarily thrusting against his hand. Wanting more than his fingers could give her.

He drew his fingers out of her then, and shifted to guide the tip of him to her entrance. He was poised at the gates of heaven and the heat wafted out of her to brush across his already overheated skin. His hand left himself and grabbed her thigh to press it up and against the wall. He thrust hard into her. Pushing the air out of her lungs and his own in a breathy moan. He released her wrists and her arms dropped to his shoulders to cling to him as he thrust into her. He could feel her hands desperately stroking his skin and her mewing moans as she lifted up further onto her toes with each stroke of his hips.

She let out a keening cry as he felt her walls shudder around him and the tightness made him dizzy. He stayed still deep within her to heighten her climax until he felt the last waves of her orgasm. After a few more thrusts he let go, pulsing inside her and swearing to the holy mother of God. He leaned his head down to her shoulder and felt her do the same as she sank back onto her high heels.

He summoned up every ounce of energy he had to stand up straight and relieve her of his weight and tucked himself back into his underwear. Then, he wrapped one arm around her waist and the other hooked under her knees and swept her up in his arms. Luckily the bedroom was only four feet to the right down the hallway. When they walked through the door she kicked her shoes off and they clunked to the floor. He eased her onto the bed and stood over her. Looking down at her and feeling slightly guilty for his greedy swiftness earlier. He was about to apologize when she lifted her hand up to his and tugged him gently down to her on the bed. He relented to her pull and laid down on his side, his head propped on one hand, while his other hand rested in hers, their fingers laced together and resting on top of her stomach.

"Bones, I promise we'll do that better, later. When my legs start working again. I went a little crazy there. Sorry." She let out a breathless laugh and squeezed his fingers between her own and rocked her head to the side and looked up at him.

"Booth, every time with you is good, no matter where, no matter when. I am glad you like the lingerie, though. I've been waiting to wear it for someone for a while."

"Well, thank you for choosing me. If there is anything else you've been wanting to wear, or not wear, I'd be happy to be your guinea pig." He dropped a kiss onto her lips and flopped onto his back, his hand still twined with hers. He felt her snuggle into his side and smiled to himself as his eyes drifted closed. His last thought before sleep drugged him was that the roses on her garter belt were tickling his thigh.


	6. Becoming Happy

**Well gang, when I started writing this chapter, I wasn't exactly sure how this story would be tying itself up. But apparently it has tied up not only itself, but the entire story. I'll be writing an epilogue, full of fluffy bits and more sexy sexiness, but this is a smut free chapter, not angsty per se, but definitely not smutty. The next story I have rolling around in my head will be a bit different, it's basically just a string of one shots that have been flashing into my mind, but they're gonna be goooooood. I hope.**

**SPOILER ALERT!! I don't know if any of you read spoilers for upcoming Bones episodes, but I do. They're addictive, like heroine, and I've written some things in this chapter that I know will be coming up in season four because I've read the guest character scripts. IF OU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT ANY SEASON FOUR EVENTS, PLEASE DON'T READ THIS! And if you do decide to keep reading, then you've been warned, and I don't want to hear any whining. I hate whining. It gives me hives. Hives are bad.**

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Their weekend ended at seven thirty on Sunday evening. His cell phone had bleated at him with the news of a body stuffed under a bridge. Other than the looming prospect of a rotting corpse the weekend had been great. She smiled to herself at the memory of Booth's face when she walked into his kitchen wearing red satin. The effect on him had been fantastic. And he made good on his promise to go again when he'd had time to recuperate. They made love on the floor of his living room Saturday morning with reruns of Batman cartoons playing in the background. The memory of him licking into her like she was the best ice cream flavor in the world made her flush. She wondered if he was reminiscing about what her lips had felt like on his cock. She knew she had made an impression from the way he kept yelling her name and the names of several saints. She didn't know what effect saying the names of holy people during sex had, but it was a surefire gauge of whether or not Booth was having fun.

They arrived at the crime scene and she hopped out of the Tahoe in her jumpsuit and gumboots. Booth, as usual, had neglected to wear gumboots and after hopping and teetering on tip toes between puddles, eventually had opted to hang back a ways from where the body was actually resting, nodding his head as he jotted on his notepad the specifics she shouted at him from her squatting position next to the body. Ten minutes after they had arrived, her new grad student, actually a forty-something-year-old man named Scott, pulled up, looking slightly sleepy, and Brennan instructed him what to photograph. After the necessary photos had been taken she helped Scott gather the necessary particulates for Hodgins to analyze and divvied up the remaining crime scene evidence with the FBI forensics team. Finally, she and Booth headed back to the Tahoe.

"All the evidence we need will be taken back to the lab and we can start sorting through it all on Monday morning." They both climbed into the truck and slammed their doors almost simultaneously.

"Good stuff, Bones. You wanna head home now? Anything else you need to do?" She smiled tiredly at him and shook her head.

"No, take me to bed, Booth. I'm exhausted and tomorrow is going to be a long day at the office." He nodded and drove them back to his house.

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They had rolled into bed at nearly three in the morning and seven o'clock came much too quickly for Bones. The alarm beeped and she heard Booth groan and then the ungentle smack of his hand on top of the snooze button. She smiled with her eyes still closed as she felt Booth bury his head between her neck and the pillow underneath her head, his hand sliding across her hip to tug her closer to his body.

"It's too early for death and skeletons. Let's just stay here and sleep." She laughed at his juvenile response to being tired. She made a half-hearted attempt to wiggle out from under his arm, but he held onto her. After nine minutes of tugging and giggling the alarm beeped again, and Booth gave up the fight. He let her have the bathroom first and she quickly peed then stepped out to let him do the same. When he was done with the toilet he opened the door back up and she slipped in next to him in front of the sink. They brushed their teeth and Brennan splashed water on her face to get rid of and remnants of makeup and sleep while Booth clicked on his electric razor and began to shave. She pulled out her makeup bag and dabbed on the little makeup she wore. They both finished their bathroom ritual at the same time and walked back into the bedroom to dress.

Fifteen minutes later sipping her coffee and chewing a bagel while Booth did the same, it occurred to her how easily this had all fallen into place. She supposed it came from years of working together and knowing each other's habits. She stared at Booth over the top of his newspaper and he caught her eyes and grinned.

"What's up, Doc?"

"Nothing. Just looking at you. I like your face."

"Thanks." He seemed pleased with her compliment and folded his newspaper back up, "You ready to go? We should probably get a move on. I'll meet you at the lab around noon or one and we'll go eat lunch and you can fill me in on any information you guys have found on the victim. Sound good?" She nodded and raised her coffee mug to drain the last sip and popped the last bite of bagel into her mouth.

"Yeah, let's go."

They kissed each other goodbye in his driveway as they climbed into their respective cars. When she walked into the lab at eight-thirty there were already a handful of people there. Angela was in her office typing away on her computer and Bones dropped in to say hello and check for any updates on an identity for the victim. Angela had a rough sketch for her and said the Angelator would be ready for a demonstration in about an hour.

"Is Hodgins here yet?" Brennan hesitated to ask, she knew it was still awkward for the former lovers to be around each other or talk about each other, but she supposed the best way to get them over the hurt was to just be open and normal with both of them.

"Uh, I'm not sure. I didn't see him when I came in, but I've been here for an hour, so maybe he got here after me. You might check the microscopes." Angela didn't look up when she spoke, but Brennan could hear the discomfort in her voice.

"Ange, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I don't really know how to deal with a situation like this. Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?" Brennan was hoping that Angela would tell her everything was fine, but somehow she knew that 'fine' was not going to be one of the words Angela used to describe her condition.

"I'm just sad Bren. Everything just got so messed up after Zach…it'll be okay, I'll be okay, we'll be okay, but right now it just kind of hurts. But, you know, we both agreed to end it. We'll get through, but right now, we seem doomed to walk on eggshells around each other and all of you guys. I'm sorry if it makes it awkward, but for right now, awkward is the best I can do around Jack." She sighed her discontent with the situation and Brennan wondered for the millionth time why they had fallen apart. She knew she'd get an explanation in time, but she could sense that pushing Angela with questions would be harmful to her friend. Instead, Brennan nodded her understanding.

"It's fine, Angela. If you need anything, you know I'll be here for you, whenever you're ready, whatever you need." Angela nodded her head and gave her a watery smile.

"I know, Bren. Now go. I need to get this ID done and get you a model of her injuries." Brennan nodded and backed out of the artist's office and out toward the microscopes, hoping to find Hodgins and some evidence she could give to Booth at lunch.

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She sat in her office filling out forms and data sheets to copy and hand over to the FBI forensics team in exchange for the forms they had faxed over consistently all day. Sheet after sheet of odds and ends that would eventually coalesce into a motive, method, and, eventually, a murderer. She glanced through the glass walls of her office to the platform. Blue and white labcoats shuffled back and forth between the three tables holding three different skeletons and the array of computers, light tables, and microscopes. The first table held a bronze-age warrior being cleaned and reconstructed for an exhibit at the museum, the second table held various pieces of a civil war soldier being mounted in a display case along with remnants of Union army paraphernalia, but the third…the third held heartbreak on a steel slab.

She looked at the scientists scurrying around, unaware or uninterested in the thirteen-year-old volleyball player and first-chair soprano lying dismembered in front of them. It wasn't their fault, they didn't know who she was or what had happened to her, but it still unnerved Brennan when the platform was littered with more than one skeleton during a murder investigation. It seemed disrespectful. Hodgins was scraping for more particulates while Cam and Scott talked amongst themselves. Cam was probably grilling Scott for specifics on the murder weapon, or possibly discussing Scott's stint as a park ranger or a baseball umpire when he was a younger man. Apparently, in his forty plus years on earth, Scott had had his fair share of careers. Now he was a forty-something grad student playing at anthropology. She found it perturbing that someone felt they could just read up on a career and a subject she had dedicated her life to. She didn't expect Scott to be around for much longer after this case was solved, but she kept her feelings to herself for the moment.

She refocused her attention on the papers in front of her and glanced at the digital clock on her computer. Only an hour until lunch with Booth. She was glad, she needed to see him. _Wait, 'needed'? No, not 'needed'. Wanted. She _wanted_ to see him_. She shook her head at the thought. Maybe she did need Booth. _Is that so bad? Yes, you don't _need_ anyone. You're independent, smart, and capable. Need of another person is illogical. Booth is just someone you can count on to make understanding and accepting as easier process. You'd get through it, eventually. He just makes living life easier_.

She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She was having weird thoughts. Best to focus on work until lunch. She had a lot of things to go over with Booth about the case, and she needed a clear head and a plan to get through it all. She spared a moment for a fleeting glance back at the platform then bent her head down and pressed on with paperwork.

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An hour later, without looking up from her papers, she knew the moment Booth walked in the Medico-Legal Lab. She smiled to herself at the fact that the buzzing of voices around the lab became slightly hushed whenever Booth strode in. The women stopped talking to stare appreciatively, and the men stopped talking to stare with a mixture of hero-worship and slight jealousy. The door to her office began to open and she looked up with an expectant smile as he came through it, all no-nonsense and gut instinct. She remembered briefly how prudish she always thought he was less than a year ago. How times have changed.

"Bones, you ready to eat? I'm starvin'." He had stopped in front of her desk and was rubbing the palms of his hands together like an excited kid, ready for cake.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Let me pile all this stuff up, and we'll go. I've got a print out of the victim's face from the Angelator, specific soil content from Hodgins, a murder weapon profile from Scott and myself, and Angela just handed over a missing persons report that confirms the identity of our victim, a Margot Birk, aged thirteen." As she spoke she slid paper after paper into a neat stack and grabbed an empty green folder to hold it all together and handed it to Booth. He took it from her hand nodding.

"That's a name that came up on our search as well. Let's go to lunch, put our notes together, and figure out our interview list." They strode out of Brennan's office and headed for the Tahoe. They walked in silence, but Brennan could practically hear Booth thinking. She knew he was dreading the interviews. It was always hard with younger victims. Telling the parents would be terrible. When they were both safely ensconced in the Tahoe, she reached over and gave his hand a squeeze. He gave her a reassuring smile and they headed to the diner.

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She didn't get home until just before nine o'clock that night. If there were any part of fieldwork she could give up, it would be informing a parent that their only child, Margot, had been viciously murdered. Booth had dropped her off at the Jeffersonian a little after five and had gone back to the Hoover building to coordinate warrants, suspect interviews, and the like. Brennan had stared at Margot's bones for four hours, learning everything she could about the life written on the white surfaces. In all honesty, the poor kid hadn't lived long enough to acquire too many injuries or wear patterns, but the interview with her parents and teachers had filled in the gaps that the investigation of her remains had left.

Brennan needed tea. She unceremoniously and uncharacteristically dropped her bag directly on the floor next to her front door and kicked off her shoes where she stood. She shuffled to the kitchen and grabbed the teapot. As she waited for the water to boil, she wondered what Booth was doing. He was probably still at work, poring over legal mumbo jumbo for warrants or talking to his colleagues about 'bringing in suspects'. She didn't envy him the bureaucracy of the FBI. The tea kettle began to scream at her and she quickly poured the hot water into a mug and steeped a lemon zinger tea bag into the steamy liquid. Her head lifted at the knock on her door.

She knew it was him before she even looked through the peep-hole. She turned the deadbolt and opened the door.

"Hey." As he walked past her into the living room he gave her a kiss, brief but warm.

"Hey yourself. I figured you'd be wiped out after today." She followed him into the kitchen where he headed directly for the refrigerator.

"I am. But, I went home and realized how quiet it was without you or Parker there, and decided to go somewhere that made me feel good, so…here I am." He had grabbed a carton of orange juice out of her refrigerator, and just as she thought he was about to drink straight out of the carton, he seemed to check himself, and made his way over to the cabinet containing the cups.

"Well, I'm glad you came over." She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, irrationally pleased at his simple compliment. "Just so you know, I was thinking of calling and asking you to come over earlier, but I figured you'd either be working or dead asleep." She pressed her forehead into the middle of his back and they stood there like that. She didn't know how many minutes went by, but she could feel him lift his glass of orange juice with the hand that wasn't covering hers, and could feel his body shift as he swallowed. His hand over hers then squeezed slightly and he turned in her arms and wrapped his hands around her as well, leaning his head down for a whisper soft kiss.

"I'll never be too tired or too busy to be with you. Next time, don't think, just call." He kissed her again, so gently she thought maybe she had just imagined it. Then he pulled her hands from around him and pulled her down the hall toward the bedroom, turning off the kitchen light as he went. She stepped into the bathroom while he started to shuck off his clothes and brushed her teeth. When she came out, he went in and did the same. By the time he was done she was in bed in her oversized t-shirt and he slid in next to her under the sheet.

"Goodnight, Bones." He kissed her forehead and put an arm across her belly.

"Goodnight, Booth." She wiggled her body to press as closely against him as she could, loving the feel of his skin against hers and the heat from their bodies sealing them together. Tonight would be the first night they hadn't made love. She wondered at her lack of disappointment. They had shared this day, all the letdowns, sadness, and confusion. This is what being with Booth would mean. She felt a warm feeling in her stomach in spite of the depressing nature of her thought. This is what it was to be with a man and have no secrets or boundaries between you. He knew everything she was feeling, because he was feeling it too. She had never been more grateful for anyone as she was for Booth at that moment, and in the midst of all the bitterness of today's rigor, she felt happiness blossom in her chest. This was love, she knew it as fact.

She turned underneath Booth's arm and looked at his face. His eyes were open and he was staring at her. She brought a hand up to his cheek, preparing to tell him, but he opened his mouth before she could get the words out.

"I love you, Bones." He whispered, and she let out a startled half-gasp, half-laugh.

She whispered back, "I can't believe you said that. _I_ was going to say that. I love you, Seeley. I don't think I've ever felt for anyone what I feel for you." He let out a relieved laugh and brought his hand to her face. He brushed back her hair and kissed her lips. She could feel his smile against her mouth and she smiled back into his kiss. They pulled back from each other, she rubbing her thumb against his cheek and his hand slowly stroking her back. Eventually they fell asleep and when she woke up the next morning, he was gone, but he had left a note on her pillow.

"I had to run home to shower and change before work, and I'm sorry I didn't wake you, but you looked peaceful. I'll be at your office at nine. I love you, Booth."

It wasn't romantic poetry, but it was in his chicken scratch handwriting and the pillow it was on smelled like him. She was stupidly happy at the last four words and read them over and over until her alarm beeped at her to get out of bed. As she padded to the bathroom she thought about everything they were going to have to face. The sacrifices they were going to have to make for each other, and for the first time, she wasn't scared by that thought. She was ready for happiness, and she was ready for it to begin with Seeley Booth.


	7. Convincing

CONVINCING

Hearing Temperance Brennan say, "I love you" was like hearing a hermit ask directions to the mall, shocking and more than a little out of character. Eight months ago they had been lying in bed after a day that hadn't been good, but hadn't been the worst, and he remembered thinking she was the only person in the world who could understand him, and that this was what it should be like every day forever. Eight months ago he had said, "I love you" and she had said it back without trepidation. Later, when they talked about everything between them she had classified her love for him as, "simplicity of fact." That was his Bones, romantic little minx.

Eight months…and now here they were. They were sitting next to each other on a blisteringly hot and humid summer day watching Parker play soccer. Well, attempting to play soccer, really. He was silently grateful that he was the tee-ball coach and not the soccer coach, some of these kids looked like they had feet made of concrete. Parker stopped in the middle of kicking the ball toward the wrong goal to look onto the sidelines and wave to him and Bones. While waving back, Booth tried to sign to Parker to turn around, but it was futile, the other players pounced on the unmoving ball and the black and white orb was sent flying into the stands.

He heard Bones chuckle softly and he leaned back in his folding chair waiting for the referee to sort out whose throw-in it was. He looked over at Brennan and she smiled up at him in the sunshine.

"Havin' any fun, Bones? Warm enough for ya'?" He playfully batted her ball cap down over her eyes and she half-heartedly smacked his hand away.

"It's hotter than hell out here, thanks. And stop messing with my hat." As she righted her cap she looked back out to the field, "Parker's team seems slightly better than their opponents." She sounded hopeful, but unsure of the truth behind her own words. This was the third game they'd been to, and so far Parker's team had been on an uncontested losing streak.

Booth shrugged and grinned, "Ah, who cares? Look at how much fun he's having." He nodded his head in his son's direction. Parker was shouting and jumping up and down, waving his arms as he chased after the ball. "He's just a kid playing a game in the sunshine with his friends. They'll all get some sort of trophy at the end of the season, win or lose. I just want him to have fun, and learn how to be part of a team." She was staring at Parker and laughing at his son's seemingly endless amount of energy as he careened down the field, stumbling and fumbling his way towards the correct goal.

"Oh my God, Booth. I think he's going to score!" They were both up out of their seats now as they watched with bated breath as Parker kicked with every ounce of strength his little body could muster. As if guided by the hand of God himself, the ball flew beautifully into the net and both Booth and Brennan let out whoops of delight. Parker turned and ran straight toward them, ignoring his coach's shouts to get back on the field. Booth knelt down as his son catapulted himself into his arms.

"I did it! I just kicked it as hard as I could, and it went in! I mean, I really kicked that sucker, Dad! Did you see it, Bones? Did you see it?"

"We saw it Parker! It was amazing. You did so great! You're the star of the game!" She rubbed his back and ruffled his hair as she praised him. Booth looked over his son's shoulder for a moment to see the coach sending in another kid to replace Parker on the field. He figured since he had a minute they could all sit down and bask in the glory of his son's kicking ability. He sat down with Parker on his lap and Bones sat next to them. Parker went on about how hard he kicked the ball and how he just "knew he could do it" and Bones reached down for a water bottle and opened it for the little boy. In between exclamations Parker gulped down a few chugs of water.

"Okay, well I should go try and do that again, I'll be back when the game's done!" With that he handed Bones back the water bottle and hopped off of Booth's lap and ran over to his coach. Five minutes later he was back in the game after a tow-headed kid got socked in the head by a rogue cleat. Twenty minutes later they were lugging lawn chairs, athletic bags, a Capri Sun, and a baggie of Cheez-its back to the car, rejoicing in the team's first win of the season.

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The day after Parker's soccer game Booth dropped his son off at his mother's and headed back home to Bones. He walked in the front door of the house that he now shared with his partner and dropped his keys into some ancient Mayan bowl. He heard clanking in the kitchen and made his way toward his roommate, steeling himself for a discussion that was going to require all of his intelligence and sweet-talking ability. He wanted to get married. He wanted to marry Temperance Brennan. Now all he had to do was convince her that she wanted to marry him.

"Hey, you're back. We need to go to the grocery store. I was thinking of doing fish and that pasta salad you like. Sound good?" She looked up at him as he walked into the kitchen.

"Sounds great. So, I want to marry you. Any thoughts?" He figured the straightforward approach would work best. He had an entire dossier in his mind of facts, statistics, and hypothetical situations he had found on the Internet and in talking to Angela, Hodgins, and Cam that he was prepared to launch on her should she begin to shoot him down.

She was looking at him. She hadn't said no yet, so that was a good sign. A sign of weakness in her resolve against marriage. He wasn't a saint; he would use that weakness against her. She was going to marry him if he had to drug her and drag her to the courthouse.

"Why?" Her head was tilted to one side and she had a partially chopped sprig of celery in one of her hands. Typical Bones question. Short and to the point.

"Well, I believe in marriage. I believe in God. And I believe in standing in front of God and the people I love and respect and letting them all know that I love and respect you the most and that we're family and that I will love you until I die." He tried to keep his tone casual and non-desperate, but he was preparing himself to bring out the big guns. He'd cry if he had to. There's a point where every man has to give up his pride for the woman he loves, and he would do it. By God, he would cry like a friggin' baby if that's what it took.

"Okay." She turned back to the counter and kept chopping celery. Wait. Okay? What did that mean? He was confused.

"Okay, what? Okay, you understand my opinion, or okay, you'll marry me?"

"Okay, I'll marry you."

"Really?"

"Yes, Booth. It's what you believe in and what you want, and I don't see what the harm would be. It's important to you, and it will make you happy, so I'll do it. But don't expect me to promise to obey. I absolutely refuse to do that."

"Okay, no obeying. Check. Have you been thinking about this? Is there anything else I need to be updated on? You know, I was completely prepared to bring out the begging and the crying, the whole works. You're kind of throwing me for a loop here, Bones." He was next to her leaning back against the counter she was chopping vegetables on, his arms folded and an unveiled look of shocked amusement on his face.

"Booth, I've told you, people evolve. I couldn't discount the fact that my father had changed when he went to prison for me, I couldn't discount the changes I see in Zack after all the therapy and programs he has been through, then there's Angela and Hodgins who's relationship has shifted from good to bad to great, and then there's the ways you've changed over the years that I've known you. It would be ignorant of me to assume that I wouldn't adapt to the new circumstances and situations in my life. Look at everything that has happened to me since we met: I have my family back, I've lost friends and made new ones, I've been in therapy, I've moved in with you, we've fought tooth and nail to keep our partnership intact, hell, I've even been to a PTA meeting or two. All the opinions that I've spouted out over the years, some of them have changed. And some of them happen to be my opinions of marriage and love. I love you. I'll love you until I die. I don't believe in God, but you do, and I want you to feel right about being with me, and I believe in you. I think it would be wonderful to stand in front of everyone we love and make promises to each other." She paused for a moment to finally look up at him from the cutting board, "However, if you'd really like to beg, I certainly won't stand in your way."

"So…you've evolved. I've evolved. Any other opinions of yours that are going through some sort of evolutionary process I should be aware of?" He didn't specifically mention the whole 'never having children' bit, but he hoped she had changed her mind on that. He and Bones would raise one hell of a kid.

She let out a small sigh, like she was preparing herself for something she knew he wouldn't like. Similar to the time he came home from a conference and found the guest bathroom painted some sort of yellow. She had said the color was called marigold, but it was yellow. Yellow, yellow, yellow. He had no idea what to expect from her mouth. His first thought was that maybe she physically _couldn't _have kids, and if that were the case, that was fine. He would never ask again. Maybe she still just didn't _want_ kids. Well, that was okay too, they had Parker and Russ and Amy's girls came over a lot. Then of course, they had each other, and he thought of all the long nights of lovemaking and sex on kitchen tables that probably wouldn't happen if they had children twenty-four-seven. Suddenly not having kids seemed okay.

"Booth, I just don't feel comfortable bringing a child into this world. But, what if we discussed adoption? I know that it's hard for a lot of men to talk about, but think of the life we could give a child that had been abandoned or hurt by others. We could help a kid like me, or Andy. We could love them and…" The rest of her words were muffled by Booth's mouth on hers. He had never been so excited in his life. In the span of ten minutes he had gotten a wife and a family, and he hadn't even had to beg or drug anyone.

He pulled his mouth away from hers, "Temperance Brennan, you have made me the happiest I've ever been. I'll adopt as many kids as we can handle. We're gonna be so great at this." He ducked his head back down to hers again and gathered her into his arms. He lifted her slightly off her feet and carried her down the hallway toward the bedroom.

Once inside the door he peeled her t-shirt off over her head. No bra, Jesus that was hot. He fell to his knees, kissing her stomach and dipping his tongue into her belly button. She let out a giggling sigh and he kept kissing until he hit the waistband of her jeans. He swept his tongue underneath the denim and ran his hands up the back of her jean-clad legs from heel to butt, then around to unbutton the fly of her pants. He tugged the heavy blue material and her panties down and she kicked them off behind him. He placed a gentle kiss on the curls at the apex of her thighs, but her hands wound in his hair and tugged his head back to look up at her.

"Come back up here, Booth. I want to do this together." He nodded and placed another quick kiss on her thigh and stood back up in front of her. She ran her hands under his shirt across his abdomen and around to his back. Then she raised the white cotton up and over his head. She slid her hands back down his back and into the back of his jeans, giving his bottom a playful squeeze as they kissed and kissed. She had told him once how much she loved kissing. He had realized, when she confessed, how much he enjoyed kissing her. She was really good at it, too. Never too slobbery or dry, the perfect mixture of soft lips, slick tongue, and the occasional nip of her cool teeth. That day they had sat in the Tahoe, like teenagers, for over an hour doing nothing but kiss. That had been a good day. Somehow, during his reminiscing, all his clothes had mysteriously disappeared.

They slowly inched themselves toward the bed and fell on top of one another, all kissing mouths and roving hands. When they were laying aligned on the bed he slipped his hand down between her legs, and almost instantly became aware that her hand had mirrored his own, her hot little fingers curling around him. He brushed her clit and her hand responded with a slight squeeze. As she began to move her palm up and down his shaft he dipped two fingers into her. Every time he brushed a digit over her clit she would give the tip of his cock a swipe with her thumb.

After minutes, her moans and panting breath were too much for Booth. He retracted his fingers from her heat and she let out a lusty sigh at the loss and he peeled her hand off of his cock. He rolled between her legs and paused just outside of her wet heat, every masculine fiber of his being telling him to just _thrust_. But he stayed himself, hovering over her and looking down at her face until she opened her eyes and looked at him. He brought his head down for a kiss and rested his forehead against hers. Unsure of what he was waiting for, but hopeful she would know what he needed even though he didn't.

"Booth," she whispered his name so that he looked straight into her eyes before she continued, "I love you. I want to marry you. I want to make a family with you." He felt something inside him hum, and he knew that's what he needed. His brain hadn't caught up to his heart. How did she know that? How did she know everything? He smiled into her eyes and kissed her as his body slowly sank into hers.

Their relieved moans echoed off the hardwood floors. He slid in and out of her, every cell of his body focused on the feeling of her walls around him. Her legs wrapped around his waist, her ankles hooked together and pushed him deeper within her. If having a family with Temperance meant having sex in a bed like _this_…he felt really okay with giving up the kitchen tables and hallway walls. He could feel the warning vibrations start within her, the murmuring flex of her inner muscles telling him she was close to orgasm. He wrapped his arms under her back and grabbed her shoulders from underneath and with one hard final thrust he pulled her body to meet his hips and they crashed into ecstasy together.

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Mr. Seeley Booth and Dr. Temperance Brennan were married in the East Potomac Park at sunset on October 16th; the bride wore pale blue. Eleven months later they adopted a four-year-old little girl named Phoebe, and eight months after that, a seven-year-old boy named Christopher finally met the parents he was meant to have. Life was not always easy, they hardly ever agreed, but they laughed more than they cried, there was more sunshine than rain, and they loved each other forever, and that's all anyone could ever hope for.

**Oh gosh, I really loved writing this story. Thank you to everyone who read, and a gigantic thank you to all those who reviewed. I hope you'll stick with me through a few more little adventures with Booth and Brennan. And I hope it turned out the way all of you hoped. Thanks for reading!**


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